Teachers' Voices BOLD and Nina Alonso

Why is it important to make sure children have words to name their emotions? How can teachers promote mental health and wellbeing? Is it possible to remove academic pressure from school?
In this episode, Nina first meets Sarah Griffiths, a Senior Research Fellow at University College London and Co-Director of the Wellbeing and Language Lab in UCL’s department of Clinical, Educational and Health Psychology. “Language, particularly words for emotions, are critical for understanding emotions,” Sarah explains. Emotion understanding is not innate, children learn about emotions through conversations.
Next, Nina meets Riffat Arif, known as Sister Zeph, winner of the 2023 Global Teacher Prize. Sister Zeph talks to Nina from Gujranwala in Pakistan. She has given thousands of marginalized children and women access to learning. “Mental wellbeing has always been my priority”, Sister Zeph says. The children at her school are traumatised from poverty, hunger, and physical and mental violence, and Sister Zeph provides them a safe space.
Nina speaks to Virna Talarico, a teacher working in primary education in Zurich in Switzerland. Virna shares that they talk about emotions in the classroom - children have the right to feel emotions and other children have to respect that. “It is important that the children feel they are taken seriously”, she says.
Nina’s final guest is Joyce Mininger, Learning Director of the LearnLife primary years hub near Barcelona in Spain. “We take away the pressure of school”, Joyce explains. At their school, they reduce academic pressure to support children’s wellbeing. They also foster healthy relationships between learners, and work on teacher wellbeing too, which impacts children’s wellbeing.
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Guests and resources
Sarah Griffiths - Lab, Twitter/X, UCL
Sister Zeph - LinkedIn, Twitter/X, Global Teacher Prize
ZWEE Foundation of Sister Zeph - Facebook, Instagram
Joyce Mininger - LinkedIn
LearnLife, LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter/X
Dr Ross Greene explains Plan B, a technique to solve problems collaboratively with children
Virna Talarico
Contact
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What types of physical activity benefit students? Can bringing movement and play into different academic classes help children learn? How can spaces and classes for movement be inclusive?
Nina first meets Fotini Vasilopoulos, a Postdoctoral researcher at the University of Sydney in Australia. “Physical activity is important for physical health, for mental health, and it also can drive behaviours for learning.” Fotini suggests giving children different types of experiences - not just sports, but also play and dance, which can foster inclusivity.
Next, Nina speaks to Saumil Majmudar in the Himalayas, India. Saumil is the founder of Sportz Village, India's largest youth sports platform. “We do something very simple,” Saumil says, “we just get kids to play”. The Sportz Village approach is to give children the time and space to play safely with others their own age. 
Nina also hears from Tanya Sheckley, founder of the Up Academy and host of the Rebel educator podcast. Tanya is based in California in the US. Tanya’s school incorporates movement and play into classroom time, and students can have breaks from work on a large monkey bar structure.
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Guests and resources
Fotini Vasilopoulos
Saumil Majmudar - LinkedIn, Twitter/X, Facebook
Sportz Village - LinkedIn, Twitter/X, Facebook
Tanya Sheckley – LinkedIn, Facebook, Rebel Educator podcast
UP Academy - Twitter/X
Contact
Join us on social media: @BOLD_insights and @VoicesTeachers.
Listen to all episodes of Teachers’ Voices.
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Get in touch with us: podcastteachersvoices@gmail.com.

In what ways do students differ from each other in their learning? How does one student vary in their own learning from day to day? How can schools embrace these types of learning variability?
In this episode, Nina talks to Julia Leonard, Assistant Professor of Psychology at Yale University. Learning variability, Julia explains, is both “my learning might be different than your learning” and “my learning one day might be different from the other day”. It is also that “my learning in one class might be different than another class”. Julia’s research asks how educators can create contexts that bring kids to the top of their potential.
Nina also meets Guyot Betoto, a secondary school teacher from Madagascar. Guyot teaches large groups of students and is always looking for ways to adapt to student variability. He explains how he moves around the group and identifies learners’ needs, and empowers students to lead and motivate others in the group: “They do it with pleasure”.
Next, Nina speaks to two edupreneurs from LearnLife in Barcelona, where students’ interests and passions are at the centre of their learning. Emma Buckle, Community Partnerships & Development Director, explains that the LearnLife approach is a “truly personal model that helps learners focus on and find their own personal passion”.
Devin Carberry, LearnLife’s Barcelona Hub Lead, tells Nina about the way students direct their own learning. “Amazing projects come out of this because we give learners a space to reconnect with learning how they like to do it.”
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Guests and resources
Julia Leonard - Lab website, Twitter/X
Guyot Betoto
Emma Buckle - LinkedIn, Twitter/X
Devin Carberry - LinkedIn
LearnLife - website, Facebook, YouTube
Contact
Join us on social media: @BOLD_insights and @VoicesTeachers.
Listen to all episodes of Teachers’ Voices.
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Stay up to date with all the latest research on child development and learning at bold.expert.
Get in touch with us: podcastteachersvoices@gmail.com.

How can teachers help students make a positive change in their communities? How can schools better connect education with the future of work?
In this bonus mini episode of Teachers’ Voices, Nina hears practical tips from last episode’s guests Alison Yang, Barbara Bilgre, Maud Seghers, and Larisa Akrofie. Nina is also joined by Tanya Sheckley, an edupreneur and host of the podcast Rebel Educator. All share their tips and inspiring resources for instilling an entrepreneurial mindset and preparing students for the future of work.
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Guests and resources
Alison Yang - LinkedIn, website
Barbara Bilgre - LinkedIn
Global Issues Network
Round Square
African Leadership Academy
Maud Seghers - LinkedIn
VVOB - website, LinkedIn, Twitter/X, Facebook
Larisa Akrofie - LinkedIn, Twitter/X
Tanya Sheckley - website, Rebel Educator podcast
Contact
Join us on social media: @BOLD_insights and @VoicesTeachers.
Listen to all episodes of Teachers’ Voices.
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Stay up to date with all the latest research on child development and learning at bold.expert.
Get in touch with us: podcastteachersvoices@gmail.com.

What is an entrepreneurial mindset? Why should educators nurture entrepreneurial mindsets in young people? What entrepreneurial projects have teachers developed in classrooms around the world?
In this episode, Nina first speaks to Maud Seghers. Maud is a global education advisor at VVOB in Belgium, an international organisation devoted to education development. An entrepreneurial mindset is not just about starting and managing projects, programs, and businesses that generate wealth, Maud says, as a lot of entrepreneurs and young people also want to “maximise benefits to society and the environment”.
Next, Nina meets Larisa Akrofie in Ghana. Larisa is Lead of Skills and Education at the Mastercard Foundation and believes that building entrepreneurial attitudes in the growing young population in Africa is really important. “High rates of entrepreneurial skills will go a long way to empower young people to create their own opportunities and contribute to the diversification of economies and address social challenges”, Larisa says.
Nina then speaks to Alison Yang, an international school teacher in Hong Kong who specialises in entrepreneurship. Alison explains that students often acquire skills and knowledge but don’t necessarily know how to apply them outside the classroom. “That's why we have the entrepreneur project”, she explains, to explicitly show students how to apply their “knowledge and interest to create something that's useful”.
Finally, Nina hears from Barbara Bilgre, a marine biologist and science teacher in India. Barbara believes that “if you're going to be setting up a business, you should have in mind a purpose for social improvements and social justice”. Barbara tells Nina about the benefits of connecting schools with social entrepreneurs who are working to improve the environment.
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Guests and resources
Maud Seghers - LinkedIn
VVOB - website, LinkedIn, Twitter/X, Facebook
Larisa Akrofie - LinkedIn, Twitter/X
Plugging African Youth - WhatsApp Channel
Alison Yang - LinkedIn, website
IB Middle Years Programme - Twitter/X
Barbara Bilgre - LinkedIn
Contact
Join us on social media: @BOLD_insights and @VoicesTeachers.
Listen to all episodes of Teachers’ Voices.
Subscribe to BOLD’s newsletter.
Stay up to date with all the latest research on child development and learning at bold.expert.
Get in touch with us: podcastteachersvoices@gmail.com.

What barriers keep girls from fulfilling their potential in STEAM – science, technology, engineering, arts, and mathematics – subjects? 
Nina first meets Maliha Fawzia, the interim Global Head of Girls’ Education at Teach For All. Maliha joins Nina from Bangladesh. Maliha explains that the first barrier for girls studying maths and science is feeling welcome in the classroom as girls. “It's first and most important to feel safe, to be seen, to feel confident, to share their opinion”, she says.
Next, Nina meets math teacher Patrycja Janekankit, based in Poland. Patrycja gets to know her students as well as possible, and makes sure they get to know her – for example, through telling them about her previous work as a financial analyst. “My teaching methods are built on authenticity and honesty”, she says.
Next, Nina speaks to chemistry teacher Shulammite Ajayi from Nigeria. “I use role models and guest speakers for my science projects”, Shulammite tells Nina. She shows students that they can solve real life problems using science. “I try as much as possible to relate each of the topics with what they see in their environment.”
Finally, Nina speaks to biology teacher Kainat Rohail from Pakistan, who, like Shulammite, connects students’ work with their daily lives. Kainat also invites people with STEAM careers to talk to students, and she arranges lab and university visits for students. This helps students to focus not just on their grades, but also their careers. It is “helping them to achieve their long term goals”, Kainat explains.
This episode was made in collaboration with Teach For All, a global network in more than 60 countries around the world, developing collective leadership to ensure all children can fulfil their potential. The teachers in this episode are Fellows of the Teach For All Global Girls' Education program.
Join the Teachers' Voices WhatsApp group and read the community guidelines.
Guests and resources
Maliha Fawzia - LinkedIn
Teach For All - website, Girls’ Education, LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter/X
Patrycja Janekankit – LinkedIn, Facebook
STEAM projects are a pathway to modern education, Teach For All blog
Teach For Poland
Shulammite Ajayi - LinkedIn
Teach For Nigeria
Kainat Rohail - LinkedIn
Teach For Pakistan
Contact
Join us on social media: @BOLD_insights and @VoicesTeachers.
Listen to all episodes of Teachers’ Voices.
Subscribe to BOLD’s newsletter.
Stay up to date with all the latest research on child development and learning at bold.expert.
Get in touch with us:podcastteachersvoices@gmail.com